


Mask

by orphan_account



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Broken Bones, Choking, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Holding Hands, I guess you could read it as romantic prinxiety if you wanna, I'm so sorry, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Minor Injuries, Panic Attack, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Prinxiety - Freeform, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, Threats of Violence, Violence, basically Roman beats the shit outa deceit, past deceit/virgil, this fic got way out of hand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-25 23:56:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15651558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Roman feels awful for how he treats Virgil. This started out as a short little vent fic, but now I kinda wanna put more effort into it. I have no plan!





	1. Ducking Out

Both of Roman's hands are braced on either side of the sink as he leans forward slightly. He stares blankly at his gaunt expression in the bathroom mirror. The toilet is to his left, opposite the door, and the shower is behind him.

 _I still can't believe Virgil... I can't believe he tried to get rid of himself... he tried to... because of_ **_me_ ** _!_

No one had the heart to tell Thomas that 'ducking out' is sort of like... committing suicide. It’s been months since then, but Roman just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

_God I can't do this anymore. I'm so sick of this. I did this. I made him feel completely unwanted. I feel so worthless. I'm just a bully. I just hurt those I love and those that love me._

He always seems so confident but... that's just to hide how much it hurts. Day in, day out. Every day is the same empty feeling in his chest.

_I just... can't bear to wear the mask any longer._

The other day Patton told him he wishes he could be as confident as a prince. He doesn't know... neither do Logan or Thomas. Deceit made sure of that. The only one that might have been able to catch on was Virgil, so Roman kept his distance. That's why he was so mean to him from the moment they met. If anyone could see through the false confidence, it'd be him.

He rubs both of his hands through his hair and holds the back of his neck. He looks down guiltily.

_What have I done? If only he knew how much I wish I could talk to him- how much I’d love to be his friend. It's useless. I can't tell him; Deceit won't let me… Thomas sure is good at lying to himself about this, but... I can't do it anymore. I just can't!_

He looks back up at himself. A few tears streak his cheeks; he was too lost in thought to hold it in like usual. He walks out of the bathroom and sits on the edge of his bed. His head falls into his hands and he wipes the wetness from under his eyes. He decides he should get into more comfortable clothes when he has a passing thought.

_You could duck out…_

He walks over to his dresser before he freezes.

_Oh, my god._

_Did I really just think that? Oh, god!_

He's scared now.

_I'm... no... can I? No! No. I'm fine. I won't... no... I can't. No no no no no._

His eyes drift over to the bathroom door. He has a few prescription medications in there.

_No!_

He quickly turns his focus back to changing his clothes. He stands up and slips on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He decides to try to write a little bit, but his gaze seems to be pulled by the bathroom door.

_Maybe... I should talk to someone. But who?_

He goes through all the sides trying to figure out how he could trick Deceit into letting him tell the truth.

_I... I have to go to Virgil, don't I? He's the only one that would be able to see through it, but I don't know if Virgil can handle it. I can’t make him relive his darkest moment._

He steps over to the bathroom and holds the knob for a second.

_This is a bad idea, but... I just want to look at them. I just want to see them._

He opens the door quickly and rummages through the medicine cabinet before he finds what he was looking for. He clutches the little bottle and flops onto the floor. He doesn't open it; he just fiddles with the plastic label.

_I... should talk to Virgil, but I don't know how. Maybe…_

He starts to brainstorm ways to talk to him. He closes his eyes and tries to think. He pulls his knees to his chest and rests his head on them, still gripping the pill bottle with his eyes closed.

An immeasurable amount of time passes before Roman decides he can't talk to Virgil about... all of this. He sits in silence for a while until-

'Roman?'

The bathroom door creaks open. Virgil is standing in the threshold.

'Virgil! Uh.' He looks at the pills in his hand and panics. 'Why are you here?' he whispers worriedly.

'You summoned me? You've never done that before...'

'Oh... I didn't mean to...'

‘How did you summon me…’ he trails off, ‘...on accident...' He’s starting to understand the situation a little better. ‘Roman?’

'...yeah?'

'Can you... please give me the pills?'

Roman had started to stare at them again. He doesn't respond or move, so Virgil slowly kneels next to him and gently takes the bottle away.

‘What’s goin’ on?’

Roman tries to stammer out a lie, ‘Nothing, uh, everything is- yeah, no, I was gonna, you know, just about to... take an allergy pill, um…’ he swallows. His voice changes to a whisper, ‘I’m fine.’

Virgil gives him a skeptical look and Roman seems to visibly shrink under the critical gaze.

Roman feels like he’s about to burst; he can barely contain his emotions. Virgil lifts a brow and that’s all it takes to push him over the edge.

He cries for a little while, and Virgil makes no move to touch him; he sits cross legged about a foot away.

‘I’m so sorry, Virgil… I never wanted to hurt you. I’m so sorry I made you feel unwanted. I couldn’t tell you beca-’ His throat catches. He’s not about to cry; he’s started to choke on his own breath.

‘Roman..?’

He tries so hard to get the words out, but he can’t before his hand involuntarily claps over his mouth.

Now Virgil seems to understand what’s happening. ‘Deceit…’ He sinks down.

A few minutes pass before Roman’s hand drops to his side and he gasps. He takes a moment to catch his breath before sobbing with relief. Roman waits for Virgil to return, but he starts to worry after about five minutes. 

 _What did he do?_  Roman wonders.


	2. A Difficult Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is willing to do anything to get Roman free of Deceit's hold– anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus I started writing more and I did NOT intend for this to get so dark so quickly! The plan was to write some Roman angst and then some platonic Prinxiety fluff but that is NOT WHAT HAPPENED I'm so sorry in advance

_Where is that snake?_

Virgil manages to find his way to whatever dark corner of Thomas’s mind that Deceit calls his room.

_It changes so frequently; I guess it depends on what Thomas is lying to himself about from day to day._

It's dark, but today it looks like Roman's room, but in a much more dilapidated state. It's so torn apart that he can hardly recognize it. He flicks the lights on and Deceit swivels around in his chair like a cartoon villain.

“Were you seriously waiting here in the dark so you could do that?”

“...no.”

“Ugh, whatever. You know why I’m here.” He holds up the pill bottle and gives it a little shake.

“Ah, yes. Roman… Thomas sure is good at lying to himself about his confidence, isn’t he? How amusing.”

Virgil’s blood boils. “ _Amusing?”_ His knuckles whiten around the bottle. “You think this is _amusing?_ ” He whips the prescription at Deceit. It hits him in the chest and bounces onto the floor. “ _Amusing?!_ He’s suicidal, Deceit! You’ve taken this _way_ too far. You’re gonna let him tell the truth, or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll _what_? You can’t do anything to me. You’re powerless. Weak.” With a smirk, his reptilian eye seems to glow with excitement.

“No, we’re not playing this game again. There’s nothing you can say to me that I haven’t already told myself. You’re going to let him tell the truth. _Now_.” He steps closer to Deceit.

“Hmm… whether I release him is up to you–or rather what you can do for me.”

Virgil stoops down so low that they’re almost nose to nose. Deceit lets out a cruel chuckle before Virgil gets the chance to speak. “Are you going to kiss me for old time’s sake?”

“Absolutely not. Stop doing this to him." He sighs. "...I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” he snickers. “Interesting… I thought you hated him. Why are you doing this? He doesn’t even like you.”

“He started to change after…” Virgil's eyes get distant for a moment before he shakes his head and continues with a little more conviction. “It doesn’t matter. What do you care? You’re getting a favor out of this– does it matter why?”

“I suppose not.” He snaps his gloved fingers. “Done.” The tone in his voice sends a shiver down Virgil’s spine.

Virgil stands up straight again, allowing Deceit to eye him up and down with a hungry look.

_‘_ _Maybe this was a bad idea.’_

“I know what should I use you for,” he growls. He stands and approaches Virgil. He tries to back away, but he’s trapped against a wall. Deceit places his hands against it on either side of Virgil and leans in closely.

Virgil looks away and closes his eyes. _‘Oh god. This was a terrible idea.’_ Virgil starts to breathe raggedly and his heart pounds heavily in his chest.

“You know I hate the way it sounds when you breathe like that,” Deceit hisses. Virgil tries to hold his breath, but he lets out a small whimper. “Now, that’s a sound I like. I take it you’ve guessed what I want from you.’

“No, please, anything else,” he whispers.

“You said ‘anything.’ Didn’t you just learn about nostalgia with the others? Let’s get nostalgic.” He grabs Virgil by his belt loops and pulls him over to his bed. “You know what to do.”

Virgil chokes back tears.

“Oh, come on, seriously? I swear to god, if you cry like you did last time…”

Virgil undresses and lays down. Deceit takes his hand. Virgil’s heart starts palpitating and he feels lightheaded.

Deceit places a single kiss on his fingers, and he blacks out.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he comes to, he’s opening the door to his room fully clothed, but his hoodie is crumpled in his arms. His chest and head feel empty as he takes a couple steps forward into his room. He drops to his knees and lays on the floor.

 _‘I thought I’d never have to feel like this again.’_ He adjusts to the fetal position and clutches his hoodie tightly to his chest. He stays there for a long time, neither thinking nor feeling, but just as he starts drifting off, he only has one thought:

_‘At least… at least Roman is going to be okay.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God sorry to everyone that laid their poor eyes upon this monstrosity


	3. He'll Pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman has a very short conversation with Virgil about what happened and he doesn't get much information out of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Sorry this is so short but it felt right to keep it brief.

Roman has been waiting on his bathroom floor for a long time now- probably close to an hour. He finally decides that he need to find Virgil just to make sure he’s okay. He starts towards his room.

_He had to have gone to speak to Deceit. I swear to god, if he laid a finger on Virgil, I’m going to beat the shit out of him._

He plants two gentle knocks on the door. ‘Virge? You in here?’

No response.

‘Virgil?’ He knocks a little louder, but the door cracks open. He pushes it gently. _Oh my, god!_

Virgil’s frail frame is curled up just a few feet from the opening. Roman kneels next to him and hesitates before resting a hand on his shoulder.

‘Virgil?’ he starts softly, ‘Virgil are you alright?’ He shakes his shoulder a little.

Virgil’s eyes open slowly and stop halfway. ‘Hey. Do you feel better?’ His tone is calm and casual.

‘Um, yes, but… are you alright? You’re laying on your floor.’

‘This? Oh… I do this all the time.’

Roman gives him a puzzled and skeptical look.

‘It’s an anxiety thing.’

Roman is still not buying it, but he decides to go with it. ‘Okay... So you talked to you-know-who?’

‘Yes,’ Virgil grimaces.

‘What is it? What did he do to you?’

Virgil stays silent and keeps his eyes closed tightly. 

'Virgil?' 

‘It's nothing. Just go. I want to be alone.’

‘Virgil, are you sure you’re alright?’

‘Just leave! You don’t have to worry about Deceit anymore.’

Roman is shocked and hurt. _He got hurt trying to protect me._

Virgil’s voice is barely audible. ‘Please leave.’

Roman is hesitant, but he does respect Virgil’s request. Before he shuts the door, he says two words with more conviction and malice than Virgil had ever heard.

**_‘He’ll pay.’_ **


	4. Panic Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil tries to stop Roman, but he sort of has a panic attack instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for another chapter that's so short! DO KNOW that Roman WILL beat the shit out of Deceit in the near future.

‘Roman, wait! It’s my fault-’ Roman slams the door shut and storms down the hall.

_No no no! He’ll only make it worse!_ He gets up and chases after him.

He wanders and wanders trying to find wherever Deceit’s room went after Roman was set free. _Damn it, I can’t find it anywhere! What do I do? **What do I do!?** _

‘Roman, wait! Come back!!’

_Oh no, I’m about to have a panic attack. Breathe? No, that’s not working. Distract? There’s nothing here._ His head starts to get foggy with terror. _My usual methods aren’t working; I guess that leaves… no. No, I’ve been good for so long. Almost four months without it now. I don’t want to ruin my streak…_

He’s somehow gotten turned around and ended up back by his room. _Distract! I can take a shower._

He bolts to the shower _._ His heart is beating hard and fast, but he can feel his pulse slow down a little the moment he hears running water. He strips as quickly as he can and sits on the shower floor. His breathing has slowed, but he’s started trembling violently.

_I haven’t shaken like this since… since my last relapse._ He peers around the curtain and eyes the bottom left drawer under the sink. _I knew I should have thrown that thing away._

_Four months, Virgil. Four whole months! You don’t want to break that…_

_But... if ever there were a time for me to justify a relapse, this would be it…_

_Oh, fuck, you're going to, aren’t you?_

_Yep. Let’s go._

The sink is close enough so that he can reach the drawer from the shower. He pulls it open and sees what he’s looking for. He stares at the tiny blade and reminisces.

_I… I took this from Logan. I asked to borrow a pencil sharpener. God, he’d feel awful knowing I used it for this and that I didn’t really lose it._ He reaches down and fidgets with it.

_Four months, Virgil. Four._

_But I didn’t see Deceit for any of those months._ The blade is lowered to his forearm but he hesitates. 

_Stop._

_..._

_..._

_...no._

He swipes quickly and watches as the scarlet beads seep through his skin.

 

_Let’s take advantage of it while we can._


	5. If You Touch Him Again...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman finds Deceit and shows him what's in store if he ever decides to hurt Virgil again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the SINGLE most satisfying thing I have EVER written.

Roman charges forward in Deceit's direction seeing red. He finds the man seemingly based on instinct alone. He pounds the door with a tightly clenched fist. ‘DECEIT!! Open this goddamn door!” He keeps pounding until the door slowly swings open.

Deceit rolls his eyes emphatically and starts with, ‘What do _you_ wa-’ Roman shoves him backwards into his room. He stumbles but doesn’t lose his footing. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing!?’

‘What did you do to him!?’ Roman roars.

‘I didn’t do anything he didn’t give me permission to do.’

‘I don’t believe you.’ He advances towards Deceit with murder in his eyes until he’s pinned against the wall. Roman towers over him menacingly. His voice is gruff and threateningly quiet. With each word, he jabs Deceit in the chest with his finger strongly enough to leave bruises. ‘What. Did. You. Do.” he snarls through his teeth.

‘Funny. This is exactly the position my ex-lover was in earlier tonight.’

‘ _What?_ ’ Roman spits.

‘Well, you’ve got bloodlust in your eyes rather than ordinary lust.’

Roman slowly starts to piece together what must have happened. ‘...ex-lover …lust?’

‘Not so smart, are you, Pretty Boy? He was willing to do _anything_. Have you figured it out?’

Roman finally realizes with horror. ‘You son of a bitch!’ he howls.

Deceit simply smirks with a pompous, ‘Hmph.’

Roman punches him in the gut.

It’s enough to wind him, but he still manages to croak out a taunt. ‘Ha. That all you got?’

He pins Deceit to the wall to keep him from falling over and the cocky look on his face dissipates almost instantly. ‘You want to see more?’ Roman punches him full force under the right side of his jaw, throwing his hat off. His head flies back forcefully to enough to leave a dent in the wall. Roman grabs the man by the front of his cloak with both hands and pulls him up to eye level. ‘I’ll give you more.’

He whips around and throws Deceit against a mirror on the adjacent wall, shattering it in the process. He falls to the ground with a satisfying _thud_. The back of his cloak is a little torn and there are a few small pieces of glass stuck in his back. He’s panting heavily, Deceit rolls over and tries to crawl backwards with terror in his eyes, but Roman stomps towards him before he can get far. He kicks him in the side of his rib cage. Deceit yelps and there’s an audible snap.

‘Get up, you coward,’ he commands flatly. 

Deceit whimpers and groans in pain.

‘I told you to stand!’

Deceit obeys. He leans his shoulder against the wall for support and manages to stand shakily. He’s breathing heavily and holding the side that Roman kicked. His eyes are wide and fearful.

Roman steps closer and it looks like Deceit is trying to melt into the wall. Roman puts a hand around Deceit’s throat and leans in. ‘ _Never_ touch him again.’ Deceit doesn’t respond, he just turns his head and spits blood. Roman pushes up hard enough to lift him a few inches off the ground against the wall. ‘Can you hear me? You will _never_ touch him again!’

Deceit claws at Roman’s hand with his mouth agape. Roman holds him there for a few seconds longer just to see the terror build in his eyes before releasing him. Deceit falls to his knees, still clutching his side, and gasps desperately for air.

Roman squats so that he’s face to face with Deceit. ‘If you ever touch him again…’ he laughs a little. ‘I won’t go so easy on you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a friend to comfort.’ Roman winds up to punch Deceit one last time. He grabs a fistful of Deceit's shirt, pulls him up, and hits him square in the nose, knocking him out cold. 


	6. What did he do to You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman walks in on Virgil after his shower- don't worry he's got a towel on.

Roman paces around the halls until he’s calmed down and goes back to Virgil’s room. 

_ That’s weird…  _

The door is open and the shower is running. 

_ I guess I’ll just... go in?  _ He takes a few steps into the room and pauses awkwardly. 

‘Hey, Virge? You left your door open; I just want to see how you’re doing.’ 

Another awkward pause. Virgil didn’t hear him and Roman isn’t really sure what to do. He wants to be here when Virgil finishes so he can check on him, but he doesn’t want to lurk in his room until then- that just feels weird and invasive. He’s still debating what to do when the shower turns off and the bathroom door starts to open. For split second, Roman looks left and right in a panic; he’s caught between darting away and alerting Virgil to his presence. Unable to choose, he simply stands frozen. 

Virgil emerges with his eyeshadow streaking down his face and a towel around his waist. He jumps at the sight of Roman. ‘Ah! Roman, what the hell?’ 

Roman speaks quickly and tries to explain himself. ‘I just came by to check on you and your door was open and I-’ he halts mid sentence with a shocked look and points to Virgil’s arm. ‘What did Deceit do to your arm?!’ 

Virgil opens his mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. 

Roman has his hand over his mouth, so he can only manage a whisper. ‘Virgil, what did he do?’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short because I wanted to continue the alternating between the two perspectives thing consistent, but it felt better to switch to Virgil's pov for the next part, so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ you get two chapters but one is fuckin' tiny


	7. Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the payoff- it's the cute fluffy shit. Hell yeah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is looooong sorry guys I'm the king of consistency.

‘Virgil, what did he do?’ Roman whispers.

Virgil feels the world slow to halt around him as he turns his head to his arm. The blood washed away in the shower, but most of the cuts still have fresh scarlet scabs. He only looks for a second, but it feels like an eternity.

_‘I never thought this would happen. Everyone does an excellent job of respecting my privacy. I mean, I did leave the door open, so it isn’t his fault, really. I can’t get mad at him; he was just trying to check on me. There’s no excuse that can get me out of this one, huh? Well… I could blame it on Deceit, but that would definitely only make things worse.’_

The world unfreezes as Virgil realizes he was gaping and holding his breath. He clamps his mouth shut and quickly puts his arm behind his back.

Roman starts to take a step toward him, but he stops when Virgil backs a little further into the bathroom.

‘It wasn’t… he didn’t…’ Virgil hesitates to admit what happened. ‘I…’ he pauses and takes a breath. ‘I did this.’

Roman is speechless. He remains silent for a painfully long time, so Virgil decides to explain more.

‘You know that Thomas has friends that struggle with this- with, uh… with self-harm… so… I know that you know at least a little about this...’

Roman stays quiet.

‘Please say something.’

Roman takes a deep breath. ‘Can I come closer?’

‘Yes.’

He approaches slowly with caution.

‘Can I touch you?’

He takes a second to think about it and nods.

Roman takes one last step toward Virgil and wraps him in a warm and earnest hug.

‘But I’ll get blood on your shirt!’ he protests.  

Roman pulls away confused. Then he starts chuckling softly, but it quickly turns into full blown laughter.

‘I don’t understand,’ Virgil questions. ‘What did I do?’

‘You don’t want to get blood on my shirt? Look at me!’ he continues to laugh.

Virgil seems to notice for the first time that Roman’s outfit is beyond fixing. His pants are torn at one of the knees and he has various stains all over himself- presumably dirt and blood.

Virgil starts to laugh a little as well.

Between bouts of giggling, Roman manages to say, ‘White isn’t exactly the best color to wear to a fistfight,’ which only spurs them on to laugh even more.

The two joke around together for a few minutes before remembering the gravity of the situation. The laughter fades and they’re left in an uncomfortable silence. They look into each other’s eyes for a moment before Virgil’s well with tears. Roman pulls him into another loving hug, and this time Virgil hugs back. Roman rubs comforting circles on his back as he silently cries into his shoulder. ‘You’re safe now. This isn’t your fault, Virgil.’

Soon, the sobs subside and Roman lifts Virgil’s chin a little. ‘Let’s get you cleaned up,’ he suggests.

‘Oh. I usually just… wait until they scab over so I can put my hoodie on.’

‘Virgil! You need to take better care of yourself.’

‘You’re not one to talk, buddy.’

Roman seems to notice his own injuries for the first time. His knuckles are split and bloodied, and there’s a decently sized gash on his knee. Roman points to his leg, ‘That must be from a shard of that mirror. I didn’t even notice!’ He looks back to Virgil. ‘It doesn’t hurt- shouldn’t it hurt?’ He pulls up the leg of his pants to get a better look at it. ‘Oh, ow... Oh, **_ow_ ** _!_ Oh, it hurts _now!’_

Virgil tries and fails to contain a smile. ‘You’re so dramatic. C’mon let’s go.’

Roman limps into Virgil’s bathroom and sits on the edge of the tub.

‘I used to take better aftercare of… you know,’ Virgil explains. ‘I still have some stuff in here.’

Virgil only has one little spool of gauze and tape, but he also has some neosporin, and a good old fashioned washcloth. He grabs the cloth and gets to work on Roman’s knee.

‘Hey, I’m supposed to be taking care of you!’ he protests.

‘Yeah, yeah. Shut up and roll up your pants.’

Virgil cleans up the gash pretty quickly and finishes bandaging his knuckles in a similar fashion. ‘Alright, take the reins, your highness. You’ve got the easy job; I don’t need any joints wrapped.’

Roman gently wipes Virgil’s forearm down with warm water, dries him off, and wraps him up in no time. ‘Voila!’

‘...what now?’ Virgil wonders.

‘It’s, like, midnight; We should probably sleep. I can definitely feel my adrenaline rush wearing off.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.’

‘Me neither.’

Virgil giggles. ‘Is this going where I think it’s going?’ he teases.

‘Absolutely, this is one of my _favorite_ fanfic tropes!’

‘So… do you want to stay in my room tonight?’

‘Only if you want me too…’

‘I do, but you’re gonna need some new clothes. You can borrow some of mine if you want.’

* * *

Roman steps out from behind the bathroom door. He’s wearing black sweatpants with a Jack Skellington pattern and a black tee with Virgil’s storm symbol on it.

‘You look adorable!’

‘Ha. Ha.' I could say the same about you with no makeup.’ He flops onto the left side of Virgil’s bed and makes him laugh by striking a model pose on the purple comforter. The two goof around for a little while until Virgil’s expression is suddenly serious.

Roman’s heart drops. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Ro… if you ever tell anyone that we shared bed,’ Virgil continues with a squint, ‘you will regret it.’

They stare at each other in a contest to see who will break first. After a solid minute, Roman can’t contain his grin any longer and the two both burst out laughing again.

They talk for a long time until the two of them are too tired to talk anymore. Roman is starting to drift off when he glances back over at his friend. _I_ _f it weren’t for him… I might be dead. He… he risked so much to help me even after how awfully I treated him. He’s a much better person than he gives himself credit for._ He lays in bed a while longer until he feels Virgil patting his side.

‘What are you doing?’ Roman whispers

‘I’m trying to find your hand.’

‘Hey, hold still.’ Roman pats around and finds Virgil’s hand.

'Hey, Virgil?'

'Yeah?'

'Thank you... for everything.' 

'...Thank you for everything too.'

They lay there in comfortable silence, holding hands beneath the blanket until they both drift off to sleep. 


End file.
